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René Ricard
René Ricard (born 1946) is an American poet, art critic and painter. Life Ricard was born in Boston, and grew up in Acushnet, Massachusetts. As a young teenager he ran away to Boston and assimilated into the literary scene of the city. By age 18 he’d moved to New York City, where he became a protégé of Andy Warhol. He appeared in the classic Warhol films Kitchen (1965) and Chelsea Girls (1966). He continued to be a frequent contributor to the Mel Lyman-owned underground paper The Avatar, a Boston bi-weekly that was active until 1968. Having achieved stature in the art world by successfully launching the career of painter Julian Schnabel,Ricard, Rene. "Not about Julian Schnabel." Artforum, Summer 1981. Ricard helped bring Jean-Michel Basquiat to fame.Carlo McCormick, The Downtown Book: The New York Art Scene, 1974–1984, Princeton University Press, 2006 In December 1981 he published the first major article on Basquiat, entitled "The Radiant Child," in Artforum Ricard, Rene. "The Radiant Child." Artforum December 1981. (text published online at http://www.smartwentcrazy.com/basquiat/text/jmb_radiantchild.htm) Warhol called him "the George Sanders of the Lower East Side, the Rex Reed of the art world."Warhol, Andy; Hackett, Pat (ed.). The Andy Warhol Diaries. New York: Warner Books, 1989. Saturday, January 28, 1984 entry, page 551. Ricard is reclusive and famously mercurial. He lives and works at the Hotel Chelsea in New York City.Leve, Ariel 'New York Storeys' The Sunday Times Magazine, 25 March 2007, pp. 40-51. p. 47 Writing In 1979 the Dia Art Foundation published Ricard's debut collection of poems, an eponymous volume styled on Tiffany's shopping bags. This book is featured in a photograph from Nan Goldin's book, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (1986). The same year, he published a poem titled "The Death of Johnny Stompanato". His 2nd book of poetry, God With Revolver (Hanuman Books), was published 10 years later, edited by Raymond Foye. The same year, he contributed poems to Francesco Clemente: Sixteen pastels (London: Anthony D'Offay). Along with a handful of single-issue "zines", Ricard has released 2 other volumes of poetry since then; Trusty Sarcophagus Co. (Inanout Press, 1990), which featured his poems painted onto found artwork, and Love Poems (C U Z Editions, 1999), a collaboration with artist Robert Hawkins, who provided drawings for the book. Trusty Sarcophagus Co. was the basis of an exhibit at the Petersburg Gallery in SoHo. In 2004, Ricard did the covers for Shadows Collide With People by John Frusciante The majority of Ricard's poems are now in the form of paintings. He is represented in New York City by the Vito Schnabel Gallery on West 23rd Street. Recognition In popular culture Ricard was played by Michael Wincott in Julian Schnabel's biopic, Basquiat (1996). Publications Poetry *''René Ricard''. Dia Art Foundation, 1979. *''God With Revolver'' (edited by Raymond Foye). Hanuman Books, 1989. *''Trusty Sarcophagus Co..Inanout Press, 1990. *''Love Poems (drawings by Robert Hawkins). C U Z Editions, 1999. See also *LGBT poets *List of U.S. poets References Notes External Links ;Books *Rene Ricard at Amazon.com ;About *December 1, 1977: Rene Ricard and Camille O'Grady Category:1946 births Category:American male actors Category:American poets Category:American people of French descent Category:Gay writers Category:LGBT writers from the United States Category:Living people Category:People from Bristol County, Massachusetts Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts Category:People from New York City Category:LGBT poets